Day 6

I admit it, I sort of cheated tonight.  All I can say is "I bow to you, Ms. Martha Stewart".  I get daily emails from Ms. Martha and this bookmark was one I received the other day.  Complete with template...yeah, I said I cheated!  I printed the bookmark template on the colored cardstock, cut it out, cut out the collar, added the magnet tape, folded here and there, and VOILA!  Instant bookmark!!  Hey, it's a craft!  Tonight is TV night with Stan so I didn't want to interfere with time that could be yelling at Zack on Ghost Adventures (geeze, I really can't stand him!), so here is my cute little magnet bookmark!

Day 5

Hallmark watch out!  Okay, well maybe not.  I did have other ideas, but I realized that they would take more then a day to finish.  Since I only have an hour or two when I get home at night, I think my options are going to be limited.  Maybe once I get into a better routine, I'll be able to whip out more advanced projects.  In the meantime, here is another card.  This one will go in the "when needed" box for now, so I didn't designate it an occasion. 

The design is a stamp that I inked and stamped two different times on yellow paper.  I cut both designs out and colored them in, and then used a 3D pop dot to stack the designs to get the popped effect.  I like it lots!  Once I find a use for the card, I'll add words and maybe some other decorations, but for now, it's perfect! 

Day 4

As I was falling asleep last night, I was trying to decide what project to do today. I actually had a few ideas, which surprised me. Even though I'm really tired when I get home from work, I look forward to getting out the craft supplies and doing something creative. I think it's a nice distraction from work and general stress, and it makes me feel productive. Crafting is good for the soul, or so I now believe!

I have a few small glass vases/candle holders (depends on how you look at them) that I had picked up from the dollar store a few months ago. I had been planning on using them for the wedding, but decided they wouldn't work for what I had in mind, so they needed a new purpose. I also have tons of red and black buttons as well as red and black beads of various sizes for another wedding project that I again decided wouldn't work. This is what happens when you start planning the wedding 17+ months in advance, so many changes! The last piece to this craft puzzle...storage, or much needed storage anyway. My mind went to work and I came up with a useful project, one that will be used for years to come. Somewhere to put our craft pens! So without further ado, here is what I came up with!

BEFORE & AFTER:

Not only did I come out of today's experience with a wonderful pen holder, I also had my first 365 day craft challenge injury. I blame Stan. Usually when I start wielding the glue gun he gives me the very short but stern "be careful, don't make me take the glue gun away from you like I used to do with my mother". This time, no lecture...no stern warning, not even a second glance at the potential torture device. This is what happens when he doesn't warn me of impending doom...

That is a hot glue blister on my left ring finger in case you can't tell what your looking at.

Though I am in horrible, horrible pain, and feeling faint with every tap of the keystrokes, I believe I will live to craft another day...sigh...one can only hope! Sympathy cards are welcome. :)

Day 3

Today I had to run over to Jo-Ann's for some craft supplies and I saw the cutest thing! They had white plaster bobble heads! Different animals, cats, dogs, teddy bears, etc. I am a sucker for bobble heads and cats so I HAD to get one. (I picked up Stan a bulldog, so he could paint with me!) There were cute little various acrylic paints so I picked up some of those too! So for an hour Stan and I painted our animals and they came out really cute. My hands are not very steady, and the bobble head didn't help, but overall I think it came out quite adorable!!

Day 2

I'll be honest, it's only Day 2, and I'm tired. It took me all day to think of something to craft after I got home, exercised, showered, made dinner...you get the idea. But I'm happy to say I didn't give up after one day and I came up with something to make, something I actually need no less!


I am an avid book collector. I actually had to purchase another bookcase yesterday for the tons of books I have teetering in towered piles all over the bedroom. So what does a book freak always need? Bookmarks of course!!! I think this may be my go to craft when I run out of ideas, because seriously, I could make one every single day for the whole year and probably still need more.

I was very pleased with the "front" of the bookmark, but I'm not to keen on the "back". I went to dark with some of the clippings and it really doesn't look right, but that's the good thing about a two sided craft, just keep the nicer side facing out!

FRONT:



BACK:

Day 1

Perhaps I'm crazy. We are in the midst of DIY'ing our wedding for September. But I'm always one to find an excuse to craft, and always in need of a push, some sort of starting point, so when I came across the book "365: A Daily Creativity Journal" by Noah Scalin, I realized this was a fun way to spend the next year, and I can incorporate the crafting for the wedding into this project. Also, when the wedding has come and gone, I was worried that I would have some type of DIY withdrawl, so this is a way for me to keep going, once the wedding madness is over!

One of the things I decided was that for 2011 I would buy no more cards! I'm sick of giving money to Hallmark when I have the means to make my own. Granted my cards will in no way be as wonderful as Hallmarks, but I can guarantee mine will have more love in it's little card soul then any I have ever purchased! So for my Day 1 craft I decided to make my friend's birthday card.

When I saw the little butterflies in all their glitter glory, I just knew I had to use them, and I'm glad I did. The inside has a quote about friendship and a "Happy Birthday" chipboard sticker, and overall for my first card, I'm happy with it. Hopefully with every card I do, they will get a bit more better, but this was a good start.